Evo X ORP Shakedown
Track Day bro....
So back in January I got the opportunity to sign up for the Autocross Club of Central Oregon's track day at Oregon Raceway Park. Many of my friends and I couldn't pass up the bargain of a full track day for just $140 plus lunch. So we all signed up marked the calendars and waited.
As April 2nd neared I started getting ready early on in the week. I prepared by packing all of my tools and picking up some 110 octane fuel from Mark Nelson Oils in Salem. Oregon Raceway Park is in the middle of nowhere and they do have fuel at the track but its expensive so I picked up three 5 gallon gas cans from work. I filled up one with the 110 and the other two with pump 92.
Thursday I swapped out brake pads. I am currently running Carbotech XP12's in the front and XP10's in the rear for my track pad setup. As well I swapped out the brake fluid for type 200 when I first got the car and AMS's stainless steel brake lines. Overall I feel like this is a great setup for a heavier car like the Evo X. I ran all day and never felt brake fade however the brakes did get hot and as a result the brembo logo started changing color.
As Friday rolled around I packed up everything including my sleeping bag and headed North to meet up with the rest of the crew (Clive, Marshall, and Dakota). After Clive got his car on the trailer and we loaded everything up we headed out.
It's a long drive out to ORP especially in an econo-box Evo on coilovers but its all worth it. We finally got out there around 10 o'clock at night but I think it has become a tradition to walk the track at night so we did. Dakota almost got eaten by a saber-toothed bunny but overall it felt great to be back out there in the desert. I also learned that sleeping in the back seat of an Evo is totally do-able however I don't really recommend it.
The next day we got registered and turned in our tech sheets. There was a morning drivers meeting and then we were off. For this track day I turned down the boost in my Evo to the 23 psi track map and ran 2 gallons of 110 octane for every 10 gallons of 92 octane. This ended up being an extremely safe and reliable setup as I kept an eye on timing and injector duty cycle. As the day progressed I got a little faster and started really feeling out the track. I took this video with Harry's Lap Timer which I'm not sure how accurate it is but my fastest time of the day was 2:05. Check it out here.
I was chasing a Cayman GT4 and Clive's Evo. I was having a blast. Not only did we get video but Dakota and Marshall were the official media crew. I think they know what they are doing.
We finished up around 5 and decided to pack it up and head back home. This is definitely one of the most exciting and technical tracks in the Northwest and if you have the opportunity or ability to participate I have one suggestion. Do it. You'll be happy you did.
I really like the quote on PRE's trailer. It was something along the lines of "In this trailer lies a disease for which there is no cure". I feel like that is an excellent way of describing this addiction.
It was a long abusive day for the evo but it performed flawlessly. It wasn't the most fuel efficient on average I think it was getting 6.6 mpg on track but it did well and made the drive home. After I got home I began swapping out the brakes and cleaning out all of the brake dust. As well the front tires took some under steering abuse so I rotated them.
It's weekends like this that make me realize why I love this car so much and I look forward to the next event with it. Until then #GetOutAndDrive